To sell or rent?

[Kevin Adams]

We live in a 3 bd x 2.5 bath, 2021 built single family home north of San Francisco (Sonoma county). It is a beautiful new home, large backyard in a nice neighborhood in wine country. Mortgage is a 30yr fixed, VA loan, $6,433/month at 2.75%. Our house is one of the larger, more expensive houses in the neighborhood. I am in the military and may have to move in a year and I am unsure if we should sell or attempt to rent out the home. I am new to real estate investing and am wondering if there is a creative way to keep the house and rent it out with cash flow. I fully realize the mortgage is very high and therefore rent would have to be higher than surrounding neighborhood rentals to create cash flow. Perhaps this would be a better short-term rental than leasing? The more passive the better so I like the idea of a property manager, however I'm willing to manage the property if it reduces costs and helps us create cash flow.

I would love to hear any tips, wisdom, or resources from experts in the BP community to help us navigate this situation. Clearly I didn’t buy the home as an investment as I wasn’t investment savvy at the time. I’m just starting my real estate investment journey now so I’m trying to learn as much as possible and I want to make the best financial decision in this situation. Thanks all!